AGI - AGI Foresight Study

AGI Foresight Study: The UK Geospatial Industry in 2015

Edited by Andrew Coote, Steven Feldman and Robin McLaren

Did you know?

We face a "paradigm shift unseen in our industry for 20 years"?
That "the leadership and decision makers of 2015 will have different values, attitudes and expectations to those who have comprised the customers and consumers of the last decade"?
That pending “cuts in public sector budgets will impact the aggregate demand forGeographic Information with most GI usage being in the “unprotected areas”?
That well over 50% of polled respondents believe that UK SDI institutional initiatives "will be overtaken by the market"?
That “by 2015 spatial will not be special”?
That "location is ubiquitous"?
That “we are all sensors now"?
And "The key challenges of the new millennium are all interconnected, with many being perpetrated by climate change"?

Introducing the AGI Foresight Study

The geospatial information (GI) industry is undergoing radical change. Stimulated by a range of new global challenges, the balance of power between existing and new players is shifting. UK Government policy is also undergoing transformation with the publication of the UK Location Strategy, the transposition of the INSPIRE Directive into UK law, the passing of the Marine & Coastal Access Bill and plans to change the business model of Ordnance Survey. The economic strictures, under which the public and private sectors will need to operate, as we attempt to handle enormous public debt, are also certain to drive changes in behaviour.

There can be little doubt that in 5 years the industry will look very different.

Over the past year the Association for Geographic Information (AGI) has been exploring the future of the geospatial industry in the UK in the first public foresight project of this kind. The foresight study has a medium-term horizon of 2015, as we believe that any longer-term assessment is not feasible or valuable. In seeking diverse points of view, the study invited almost 40 industry opinion formers to contribute papers in their particular expertise, covering data and technology, vertical market sectors and policy drivers. This was supplemented by: a workshop to debate the main themes of development; a presentation and debate of initial results at an open event; and public participation through an online questionnaire. Reference papers from the wider information technology world and economics and political fields were also consulted to ensure that the resulting analysis took into account influences outside the Geographic Information (GI) industry.

AGI Foresight Study - Summary Report

See left-hand menu for individual expert papers